ADAXIS, a French-Swedish robotics company, offers a software platform to make it easy to use industrial robots as large-scale 3D printers. The mission is to enable a flexible and sustainable industry by making advanced manufacturing processes accessible to every company.
- Transforms robotic arms to be used for manufacturing and repair on demand.
- Supports 3D printing of metal, plastics, composites, and concrete.
- Closed its first fund-raising to launch the software AdaOne in 2022.
ADAXIS, a robotics software company launched in early 2021, today announces that it has raised more than one million euros in pre-seed funding from EIT Manufacturing, Newfund Capital, SkalePark and regional grants. With its new software platform, ADAXIS aims to make it intuitive and fast to transform and program commercially available industrial robots as flexible manufacturing cells based on 3D printing.
Over the past two decades, 3D printing has grown from a niche technology to being used in a wide range of industries, including aerospace, automotive, marine, and construction. Today, companies are looking for new, affordable, and efficient ways to leverage this technology to make larger and more advanced parts.
An increasingly popular solution is to turn industrial robots into large-scale 3D printers by combining them with print heads for metal, plastic, composites, or concrete. This approach has the potential for rapid industrial adoption but is currently limited by the often complex and time-consuming task of programming the robots.
AdaOne covers all the tasks required to manufacture a part. From program generation to real-time process supervision and multi- physics numerical simulation. The software is scalable and can program robots of any size, allowing printable volumes up to tens of cubic meters. This capability gives companies the power to setup local, on demand, production of highly advanced parts, reducing the need for storage, transport, and logistics.
ADAXIS was launched at the beginning of 2021 by Henri Bernard, Guénolé Bras, Emil Johansson and Vasan Churchill, following years of applied research into using industrial robotics for advanced manufacturing at ESTIA and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. The team first met during an EU co-funded collaborative research project where they found a shared vision to bring 3D printing and automation together.
“The founders have spent the last five years working on developing additive manufacturing process and robotic algorithm on research laboratory. With ADAXIS, our mission is to be a key catalyst for the industrialization and large-scale use of this technology,” says Emil Johansson, director of ADAXIS, “closing our first round of funding and partnering with strong, long-term investors allows us to take the next step on this journey.”
Agathe Descamps, founder of Newfund-NAEH, said: “ADAXIS allows us to contribute concretely to Industry 4.0 by marketing reliable and operational tools. ADAXIS has taken on the challenge of providing software that makes manufacturing industries more efficient and competitive. We were impressed by the technological maturity of their product, and we are very happy to help this young company seize the opportunity that the development of this market represents.”
Enabling both flexible manufacturing and repair
AdaOne’s proprietary algorithms for multi-axis toolpaths enable the creation of parts which could previously not be manufactured. Large, complex parts can be realized without assembly steps and with minimal material waste. It is also possible to perform repair of damaged parts by allowing material to be deposited on existing 3D surfaces. Customized deposit orientation improves surface quality and mechanical strength by avoiding traditional horizontal layers.
A promising ecosystem and a Deep Tech label
ADAXIS is the result of an innovative European ecosystem. Its creation was made possible through years of research within the Swedish Research Institutes (RISE) and the French platform Addimadour (ESTIA). ADAXIS has a close relationship with the European research community through its first investor EIT Manufacturing. Incubated by ESTIA Entreprendre, the company has also been awarded the first European prize in the “Boost Up!” innovation competition. In 2021, ADAXIS was labelled as a Deep Tech company by Bpifrance and it is currently supported by the region Nouvelle Aquitaine and ADI.
About ADAXIS
Founded in 2021 by four research engineers, ADAXIS is an industrial robotics company. Its goal is to revolutionize the manufacturing industry by providing innovative software tools for industrial robotics. ADAXIS develops the software platform AdaOne that can be used to program and control a variety of robotic arms, turning them into large-scale 3D printers that work with metals, plastics, composites and concrete.
About Newfund NAEH (newfundcap.com)
Newfund NAEH is the first FCPR dedicated to start ups in New Aquitaine. It is managed by Newfund Management, an investment platform for innovative companies in France and the United States. More than 130 start ups have been supported to date, including a dozen already in New Aquitaine. On the subscriber side, Newfund has the largest base of entrepreneurs and family offices in France for an innovation fund with €250 million under management.
About SkalePark (skalepark.com)
SkalePark is a family office created in 2020 by Jean Francois Cledel and Yvan Cantou, both engineers and entrepreneurs. Skalepark invests in seed phased disruptive start ups fuelled by committed teams, mainly tech and deep tech projects. Since its creation a year ago, Skalepark’s portfolio now encompasses 14 start ups The company’s main differentiator, supporting and advising the founders, takes on its full meaning with ADAXIS which will benefit, among other things, from technical expertise and an industrial network.
About EIT Manufacturing (eitmanufacturing.eu)
EIT Manufacturing is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (a body of the European Union. It is one of eight innovation communities within EIT. The others are EIT Climate KIC, EIT Digital, EIT Food, EIT Health, EIT InnoEnergy, EIT Raw Materials, and EIT Urban Mobility. EIT Manufacturing’s main goal is to bring European stakeholders focused on manufacturing together in innovation ecosystems that add unique value to European products, processes and services and inspire the creation of globally competitive and sustainable manufacturing. EIT Manufacturing brings together more than 65 organizations ( research institutes and business).
Press contacts
Emil JOHANSSON
Chief Executive Officer
emil.johansson@adaxis.eu
+46 7 68 23 98 26
Henri BERNARD
President
henri.bernard@adaxis.eu
+33 6 37 81 63 81
